Somewhere She Belongs
by a.jaded
Summary: (au, davis fam, sam x jason, oc as sam's daughter, vote for oc pairing !) When Sam McCall Davis Morgan was a teenager, while she was a con artist on the run, she gave up a daughter.. When circumstances reunite them, how will each female react? And who will Sam's daughter find love with while in Port Charles? And what will she get into?
1. Chapter 1

_INTRODUCTION_

_Growing up I just never felt like I really fit in anywhere.. I mean my 'family' were all fair skinned, blonde with these gorgeous blue eyes and perfect figures and faces.. Then there was me.. Not only was I more of a darker olive skin tone, I had brown hair and brown eyes.. And I was a shrimp, okay? I mean literally.. I am maybe 5'0 tall currently, which kinda sucks because I'm 24 years old and I'm forever getting carded for drinks, smokes and rated r movies._

_Not only were the physical differences visibly noticeable, but so were the differences in attitude and mentality.. I've got a thicker skin and a quicker temper. I tend to fly off the handle at the stupidest damn things sometimes.. And I'm definitely no stranger to chaos and trouble._

_I never voiced my suspicions and how I felt to my 'family', but occasionally when I'd do something they didn't like or approve of, they'd joke (and it wasn't always a total joke, sadly,) 'You were definitely dropped off on our stoop by a pack of wolves.'_

_What I wasn't counting on, however, was the truth coming out one day.. My suspicions so long unvoiced coming to life. Apparently my life wasn't what I thought it was. And when the truth came out?_

_My life got totally turned upside down._

_And when I say totally?_

_I mean totally._

_It went from normal and frustratingly boring to eventful and annoyingly dramatic at times. But I finally found what was missing, I finally found somewhere I really fit._

_And I found it all by accident._

_This is my story and trust me.. Sometimes I can't even believe this is my life now myself.. _


	2. Chapter 2

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

She gaped at the box that's contents lie spilled out on the floor of her parents old bedroom and sank down, picking up a manila envelope, opening it up, curiousity filling her. She'd always wondered what was hidden in this old box in the top of her mom's closet and now, apparently, as her mother's dying wish, she was going to find out.

The tears slowly slipped down her cheeks as she pulled out a birth certificate for a woman named Angela Monroe, stating that she'd given birth to a live baby girl (her, apparently) , then adoption papers, then a legal document that declared that her name had actually been changed when she was about two months old to what it was now, Adriana, from Samantha, which had apparently been her old name.

A picture fluttered out and she gasped, picked it up as she walked to her mother's vanity table and peered curiously into it's mirror, touching her cheeks tentatively, then trailing her finger along her jawline, then over her pert nose.. She licked her full lips as she looked at the picture of her 'parents' that sat on her mother's vanity and shook her head sadly, picking it up, holding it against her as she rested her chin on it's fancy sterling silver heirloom frame.

"Why'd you both never tell me, mama? Did my real mother just not want me?" Adriana wondered aloud as she wiped away a tear and the door to her parents bedroom opened. Her older sister walked in, hugged her and said quietly, "They took you in because this woman.. She used to clean the house for Mama and Daddy.. She was pregnant, she wasn't ready to be a mother.. They never saw her again after she left you on the doorstep and took off so Mama and Daddy always just assumed it was her.. You know, that she left you because she trusted them to take care of you.. Mama had just lost her own baby then.."

"And all of you knew? None of you ever thought maybe I'd wanna know this one day? What the fuck, Anna?" Adriana asked through gritted teeth as she looked at her older sister with an angry gleam to her normally happy warm brown eyes. The funeral had been hell on all of them. It'd been the worst on Adri, however, because she'd left home around the age of 17 because she and her parents butted heads constantly.. Today, the day they put them both into the ground.. Today had been the first (and the last) time that Adriana had seen them. She'd never get to apologize, she'd never get to rewind time and she'd never get to go and fix things with herself and her parents.

And now she was angry because apparently, all along they'd been hiding this huge secret from her.. All of them had, really. Adriana grabbed her keys and the box and stormed out of the cozy little 2 story Victorian she'd grown up in and jumped in her car. She was mostly on autopilot, she was mostly just wanting to drive out to the bar she spent hours at after work playing pool.

She needed to think.. To figure out her next move.. To try and sort out whether she actually wanted to find her birth mother and confront the woman or forget she'd ever been given the chance to peer into this box, the one her mama used to tan her for trying to sneak peeks into when she was little. The one that scared her mama whenever she'd ask curiously, "Mama.. What's in that box?"

Well now that she'd literally opened the box and all the secrets were out?

Adriana Harper just wasn't sure exactly what to do with what she knew and she didn't know what she'd do next with that knowledge.. She did know, however, that now a lot of things about her life made sense.. That this weird empty space in her, this sense of not belonging.. It finally all made sense.

Three hours found her about partially into a bottle of Jack Daniels as she read all the letters her 'mama' made an attempt to reach out to her real mother, Angela Monroe in. And bitterly, Adriana was starting to wonder if the woman just didn't want her, if she'd just turned tail and dumped her off somewhere for someone else to take care of and ran like hell.. Had her mother ever wanted her, even a little?

From the looks of the 245 letters stamped return to sender.. Adriana was seriously having her doubts about that very thing. What was so wrong with her, she wondered, that her birth mother just dumped her off on some strangers and took off to parts unknown? The anger built, almost bubbling over by now and she paced the back room of the bar, throwing back more and more alcohol the more she thought about things. And the more she thought about things?

The more she was dying to find this woman for herself and confront her, if for nothing more than to get her own due closure on things.. She'd already gotten her closure with her mother and father, she'd visited their graves earlier and poured her heart out, let everything she'd been holding in for so long out finally. Now she just wanted to find this one stranger who shared her DNA and complete the puzzle..

What she didn't realize was that like any story, there was so much more to this one than met the eye.. And when she did whatever it was she felt she had to do.. She'd wind up with a totally changed life.

Maybe even a happier one.


	3. Chapter 3

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"Whoa, wait.. What do you mean you're going to go find her, Adri?" Anna Harper asked her younger sister as Adriana stopped pouring shots for patrons of the bar she worked in currently to look at Anna and reply, "Just what I said, Anna.. I'm gonna find that Angela Monroe woman. Just wanna get it all off my chest, okay?" as she got back to work pouring shots, the matter dropped for the moment. Anna, however, didn't agree with her sister dropping the bombshell then taking the discussion off the table and she said quietly, "You sure that's a good idea, Adri?"

"You have a better one, Anna? Relax.. It's not like I'll find her.. Hell, mama tried, look where it got her.. She didn't find her, so what makes you think I will?" Adriana insisted stubbornly as she wiped down the bar then hopped over and said calmly, "Going for a smoke now. And don't try and talk me out of trying to find the woman, Anna, because I've made up my mind."

"Why's it so damn important though, Adri? I mean you had a happy life.. You coulda had a happier one if you hadn't wasted so much damn time being stubborn and all that with Mama and Daddy.. Why do you have to find this woman? It's gotta be obvious she didn't want a kid dragging her down, I mean the letters and pictures Mama sent all came back."

" Valid point, Anna, but trust me.. This has to be done. I'm just.. You and Abby don't realize what it was like, do ya? Growing up I was always the odd girl out.. I didn't look like you guys, I didn't even act like you guys most of the time.. I just felt..." Adriana said quietly as she shrugged and started to walk towards the door again, reluctant to finish what she'd been about to say. She knew her sisters were still hurting, she was too.. But finally, for once in her life, she felt like she might have a clue as to why she didn't ever feel as if she fit in with her so called family.

She might finally get an answer to all her lingering questions about her strange habits, about just simple basic things really. And if this woman, the woman who'd obviously given her up to the Harpers in the first place and walked away without once looking back were a way to do that? She was going to find the woman and demand answers. She just needed to do this, she needed to know that either there was something wrong with her, something about her that made her unlovable, or she needed to find out the reason why her own damn mother would give her up to total strangers and walk away without so much as a word.

She already had a friend of hers that happened to be a PI looking into finding the woman for her using the old picture Adriana found inside the box when she'd opened it and the one letter that her mother did supposedly write, the one that'd been left with her, vaguely explaining what she was doing and why she'd chosen the Harper family to leave the baby with.

Of course, the letter could have (and most likely was in Adriana's opinion) been a crock of pure bs just to excuse the fact that Angela Monroe couldn't be bothered to be a mother to her child but Adriana for whatever reason needed to know this for herself. And she'd made up her mind to find the woman earlier. Just so she could stand face to face with her and show her that she hadn't needed her after all, she'd had a fucking great life without her real mother in it.

What she didn't realize was that she didn't exactly know the entire story.. And neither did her sisters. And that her poor 'mother' had only known just a little.. But for now, she was going with her gut. Even if this whole thing went badly, at least when Adriana looked back she wouldn't be able to say she hadn't tried.

She walked outside of the bar and sat down on the hood of her car and dug out her cigarettes and a lighter. She checked her phone anxiously for a text from her friend, the private investigator and scowled to herself running her long delicate fingers through her long and dark hair as she bit her lower lip. Her friend had been on the case over a week now and he still hadn't found anything concrete.

She exhaled and took a few deep breaths and reminded herself that while patience may not be one of her better and stronger virtues, she was going to keep at this until she got answers of some kind on the woman who'd given birth to her and then left her with strangers and walked away for no real reason. "I turned out okay even if you abandoned me." she muttered to herself as she leaned back and looked up at the sky, found herself wondering for a split second if her real mother were out there somewhere, looking up at the same stars and wondering what ever became of the little girl she hadn't wanted back then..

Had she regretted it at all? Even a little bit?

* * *

And in Port Charles, Sam McCall Davis Morgan was standing on the deck of her mother's house, wine glass in hand, looking up at the sky as she hugged herself against the chill in the night air. The patio doors slid open and she heard her half brother Lucas walking out. "You okay?" Lucas asked as Sam said quietly, "It's nothing, I just.. Sometimes I wonder about something.."

"What?" Lucas asked as he flopped down on a patio chair and looked up at his half sister as he said casually, "Spill it." and patted the chair sitting next to the one he was flopped across. The sounds of a family dinner drifted out the partially open patio doors, laughter hanging on the night breeze and echoing across the lake. Sam looked back into the house and at her birth father, Julian, who was holding her son, Danny.

"Danny wouldn't be my only kid.." Sam started as she sipped the red wine in her glass and looked at Lucas who gave her a gaping dropped jaw as he asked, "What do you mean? Is this about Lila?"

"Nope.. Lila, had she lived, would have been my second child.. This is further back than that.. I was only seventeen when it happened, Lucas.. I was doing anything and everything I could to keep my brother Danny safe and cared for while our so called father was away for weeks at a time on salvage boats.. I worked for this family, the Harpers.. And the husband..." Sam said quietly as she bit her lower lip and shook her head.. He'd done a bad thing to her, yes, but she'd responded to the flirting, the touching, the promises the man made even.. then she'd gotten pregnant.. And she'd been so young, too young really, to properly care for a daughter..

The man of the house, of course, made a deal with her.. And even though it killed her, and she'd hated herself for a long time since, she'd taken the man up on his deal.. And years later, when the truth came out and the wife began looking for her in the hopes of correcting the situation, the damage had been done.. Sam didn't want to tear the little girl from the family she'd grown up loving, thinking her own family.. Not like the little girl had been torn from her own arms, practically..

So when the letters came, with pictures, she'd open them, make copies of the pictures that Samantha's new mother Angel sent and then she'd tape the letters back up and send them back marked return to sender..

In truth? This one man and the things that transpired while knowing him.. They were all a part of what made her become the Angela Monroe she eventually became later in life.. And when she straightened her life out.. She chose a name that made her just a little happy when she thought about it.. A name that gave her hope (because every letter Angel sent her about her little girl gave her hope that maybe despite everything she'd made a wise decision) and she'd picked the name she'd given her own baby girl to start over in her new life..

When she became Samantha McCall around the age of 23, she'd done it because she wanted to never forget the little girl taken from her. She did it in hopes that one day she'd find her little girl and find out she was alright, that she had a happy and normal life, a good life.. Maybe right now, that little girl was looking up at the same stars as she was, or maybe she was snuggled into bed by now, safe and happy in the arms of a man she loved.

As a mother that's all Sam really hoped for.

When she finished telling Lucas the full story he looked at her and said quietly, "And you haven't told our dad or Alexis any of this why exactly?"

"Because, Lucas.. I don't deserve to find her. And I know she's at least happy and with a good family. She was well cared for.. She never even knew about me for all I know." Sam said as she finished off her wine and then stood, stretched and said "But maybe I should tell them.. This does not mean I'm going to look for her.. I promised myself that I'd leave well enough alone.. That I didn't want to destroy her life by popping up in it."

"But what if she finds out anyway, Sam?"

"What if who finds out what?" Alexis and Julian asked as they fixed their eyes on their daughter expectantly. Sam gave Lucas a dirty look and then told them the same thing she'd just told her half brother. And when she finished, Alexis looked at her and said quietly, "You don't have to ever let her know you looked.. But you could find her and at least see for yourself without her knowing, how she really is.. You might be surprised, Sam."

On the drive home, Sam mulled her mother's advice over.. And by the time she walked through the door of her apartment with her sleeping son in her arms, she'd decided.. What if she just looked into the girl and made absolutely sure the girl was happy, that she had actually had the life that Angel Harper described to her in letters...

There wasn't any harm in that.. Right?


	4. Chapter 4

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

She finally had a lead.. Apparently, the reason her birth mother hadn't been found so easily before now was because she was going under a different name these days. Adriana stared at the paper in her hands and bit her full lower lip as she said the name aloud and mused to herself about her birth mother's choice in names for her 'new identity'... Why had she chosen the name she'd given her before she'd given her up to complete strangers almost and walked away without an actual look back or a thought about what she was doing?

The woman lived in Port Charles, New York. Adriana rolled her eyes and said to herself aloud, "Figures she lives in god damn New York." her voice heavy with her thick Southern accent. Adriana had grown up in Georgia and she'd never been that far north.

Hell, the farthest she'd ever actually been from home was when she'd left for a while at seventeen and even then she'd stayed around the southern states because just the thought of going somewhere like New York made her cringe a little. But if she were going to confront her birth mother then apparently, New York was where she was going to have to go.

She thought about this as she wiped the bartop down and got ready for another heavily crowded Friday night. Football was a big thing in her small hometown, and after tonight's high school rivalry game with a high school from the next county, Adriana knew the place would be packed so she was relishing the quiet, currently. She wasn't expecting anyone to come into the bar just yet, so when the door opened she called out, "Can't you read the sign? We're closed until 9." without really looking up.

Sam gaped at the girl for a few moments. It was almost like looking in a mirror, looking at Adriana was. She'd prepared herself for pretty much anything that might come up except for just how much her oldest child might actually resemble her. She finally got her wits about her and said quietly, "The door was unlocked."

"Probably, ma'am, because I came in early to play a round of darts and clean the damn place up." Adriana said as she worked on ordering the liquor bottles on the shelves behind the bar, still not really paying any actual attention to the woman who'd taken a seat on a bar stool.

She finally turned around and seeing the woman made her drop the bottle of vodka in her hands as she gaped at the woman a moment in shock. This sense of familiarity washed over her and she blinked and then asked quietly, "Have I.. Have I seen you before or something?"

"Nope." Sam said as she looked at the girl and then asked, "What's your name?" mostly just sticking to what she'd told herself she was here to do.. She'd told herself that all she was going to do was see how her daughter was doing.. That if Adriana didn't know about her, she wasn't going to tell her. At least then she'd have her closure and she'd know for one hundred percent certain that her daughter was happy, that she'd had a good life. So far, Adriana's life seemed to have been a pretty decent one, judging by what she'd dug up about her daughter, though Sam did have her concerns about some of Adriana's hobbies and past brushes with the law, trouble she'd gotten into at school as a kid.

Beyond that, Adriana seemed to be relatively healthy and happy. At least she did on paper. Looking at Adriana right now, however, Sam was wondering if she really were happy. The girl just seemed tense.. She seemed like she was angry about something and hurt. The maternal instincts were working in overdrive and Sam reminded herself that when she had let Adriana's father con her into the arrangement he had, she'd essentially given up all right to worry but sitting here now, she found herself worrying all the same.

"Adriana. What's yours?" Adriana asked as she studied the woman sitting on the barstool across from her intently and then grabbed a longneck bottle from the refridgerated area behind the bar for herself, popping the top against the counter, taking a long pull from the bottle as she waited for the woman's answer. When the woman told her her name she spat her beer out and gaped at her a few moments then reminded herself _'She walked away then, Adri. Ain't no damn way she's gonna come and look for you, wanna be in your life now.. Besides, you have a mother.. Her name is Angel and you wasted at least five or six good years with her running off like you did just because you butted heads a lot.__'_

It was probably just coincidence after all, Sam was a pretty common name for both men and women. She noticed the woman had a New Yorkers accent and asked in curiousity, "What brings you to Georgia?" as she looked at the woman still shocked for the most part that the woman seemed to look so very familiar to her and so much like her if you wanted the honest to God truth of the matter.

"Just checking on someone." Sam said casually as she eyed the beer in her daughters hand and asked, "Can I get one of those? It's been a really, really long trip for me and I just wanted to stop and unwind." which made the girl laugh a little, the smile so similar to her own it was almost spine tingling as Adriana grabbed a beer and held it out to her and then informed her, "We live football here, ma'am.. So if you wanna wind down? Not gonna get much of that around 9 or so.. That's when the football game will be over for Beaumont High.. Tonight's a rivalry game so it's gonna get rowdy in here. Just wanna warn you ahead of time."

Sam sipped her own beer after opening it in a manner similar to her daughter and then asked, "Do you live around here?"

"Mhmm.. In that 2 story Victorian just outside of town.. The one with the barn and the cow pasture?" Adriana said as she wondered what was up with this woman's strange questions about her and stared at her a moment then added, "It's my parents old place." as she looked at the woman and shrugged then added "I'm hardly ever home though." as she turned her a ttention back to wiping down the bartops and listening to the football game being broadcast on a local radio station.

Sam watched her daughter as Adriana moved around the bar, laughed a little to herself when she discovered that apparently Adriana had gotten her love of sports too and was getting caught up in the game's being broadcast and was yelling swears at the radio as a result.

Adriana watched Sam and then said with a casual shrug, "Leave it to our guys to screw it all up in the third quarter. They're gonna keep it up and get their asses booted right out of state finals." while sipping her beer and looking out the window that ran along the front of the bar and into the parking lot, mostly to stop gaping like an ass at the woman sitting across the bar who just happened to resemble her so much it was a little more than creepy.

"So.. Are you going to college?" Sam asked in curiousity as Adriana nodded and said quietly, "Going for history. I'm minoring in Psychology." with a shrug as she added, "Personally, I'd rather just work in the garage the rest of my life but hey.. Made my mom a promise and damned if I'm not gonna at least keep this one." while drinking a little more of her beer and then asking, "You said you were here to check on someone.. Who are you here to check on?"

"My daughter." Sam said quietly, seeing no real reason to lie or anything as she looked at Adriana and then asked, "What made you pick Psychology?"

Adriana shrugged as she filed away what the woman said about checking in on a daughter for later.. She wasn't sure why but she got the distinct feeling that the woman had a reason for coming in here, for asking her all these questions that while seemingly innocent small talk also made Adriana feel like the woman was desperately trying to get close to her for some reason.. Then again, Adriana was a paranoid person sometimes so maybe it was just everything she'd discovered about her own life and how it'd all been pretty much a lie as of late finally piling up on her making her suspicious when she had no real reason to be.

It wasn't like Sam was here to check up on her.. Right?


	5. Chapter 5

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

She sank down onto her hotel bed and let out a few long and deep breaths. She'd spent almost all afternoon and over half the night talking to and silently watching her oldest child and she'd come to one conclusion currently, and that was that she'd thought she could just quietly check in on the girl, but now that she'd checked in on her, now that she'd done this, opened this can of worms, she wasn't sure if she wanted to close it again or not. She did know that Adriana, or at least she sensed this, needed her as much as she probably needed Adriana to know the truth and for the two of them to get things out in the open and Adriana either hate her for good or want to get to know her more.

Somehow, just going on the way Adriana acted about certain things, she had the feeling that for a while, at least, Adriana just might choose to hate her. Hopefully it wouldn't be permanent. Maybe she could get through to Adriana and make her see why she'd done back then. She knew now, without a shadow of reasonable doubt that she needed (and wanted, probably selfishly) her daughter to be a part of her life. That just simply checking in and seeing if Adriana were okay wasn't going to ever really be enough for Sam.

Knowing she was out there now, knowing that she'd seen her, knowing that Adriana seemed to be in some kind of deep and dark pain or something, knowing that her choice when Adriana was born might have some how caused this pain.. Sam couldn't let things go unsaid, she couldn't let this die. So she took a few deep breaths and she picked up her cell phone, dialed her mother's phone number. Right now, more than anything, Sam just needed to hear her mother say that she supported whatever decision Sam might make. And she needed to know that her mother knew how it all felt before, that she could identify with what she was feeling right now, the overwhelming rush of emotions that came with Sam's having seen and spoken to Adriana earlier, having gotten to know her.

Alexis answered on the second or third ring and Julian eyed her as she mouthed that it was Sam to him. He nodded and Alexis put the phone onto speaker phone mode as she asked, "Well? How did it go?"

"I want to tell her, Mom. I came here thinking I could just be happy with checking on her, seeing how she'd grown up, seeing for myself that she was happy, that she'd had a good life.. Now that I've seen that, now that I've actually spoken to her without her knowing who I am I just.. I can't just leave and let things go unsaid. But I know if I do tell her there's a big chance she'll hate me forever because I basically abandoned her on strangers and walked away as if she meant nothing to me. She won't understand the pain and anguish that went into my decision, she won't understand that I had to do it for her.. Because I was still a child myself basically, pretending to be an adult. I couldn't have taken care of her back then, I barely took care of myself."

Alexis nodded and Julian spoke up from the background to point out, "And then there's you not knowing how to deal with what that man did to you. If you explain things to her, Sam, maybe there's a chance." which Alexis nodded and agreed with whole heartedly, adding "And if you feel like it's something you need to say and do, you need to do it now. This has affected you for a really long time. Maybe some good will come out of it." as she shifted Danny from one hip to the other and then said calmly, "Take as long as you need. Julian and I have Danny, we're enjoying the time with him. You're too stingy with my grandson and it's nice to hear little feet around the house again."

Sam nodded and then said quietly, "It's just.. I know that she'll react one of two ways and the way I suspect she'll react is going to hurt us both."

"That's when you keep on trying and you don't give up, Sam." Alexis said quietly as Sam added, "Like you did with me?"

"Exactly that way. I didn't give up on you a fter the truth about you being my daughter came out, did I? Do the same for her. Maybe you two can still have a relationship. If it's possible, I'd like to see her." Alexis said as Sam smiled and said "Check your text messages, Mom. I figured you'd all want a few pictures of her and I took them when she wasn't really watching me do it." as she hit send and sent a few pictures of her oldest child to her mother, smiled a little to herself.

"Logan called from your office. He said you've got three cases lined up and that he assumed it was okay that he went ahead and did the groundwork for one of them on his own. He's bored lately. Said that one of the cases is being looked at by Spinelli from Seattle, remotely. But things are being taken care of at work too." Alexis said as Sam said quietly, "Thanks.. If they call back tell them I'm doing my best to make this as quick as I can. I just.. I have to get all this behind me or out in the open."

"I know, Sam. Just be careful out there by yourself." Alexis and Julian both said as they hung up with their daughter. Sam gazed at the photo album she kept copies of all of Adriana's pictures, all of the letters Angel sent to her over the showing her she had mourned and regretted her decision would help things in her favor.

She grabbed her keys and headed out of the hotel room, intending to go to Adriana's house and talk to her there. She had this really strange feeling as she walked through the doors of the hotel lobby and out towards her rental car, but she put it off largely to nerves. The closer she got to Adriana's house, however, the more her maternal 'spidey senses' seemed to tingle and the more on edge she became.

The flashing blue lights and the broken guard rail on the bridge just a half mile from her daughters place had her panicked by the time she parked and ran to the crime scene tape, shoving through the small crowd of people gathered and talking, stating assertively, "What happened here?"

"Car went over the guard rail and flipped down that ravine there, ma'am. Harper's girl, I'm afraid.. She's always driven that damn Z28 of hers wide open.. Just never think that will happen to somebody you know." the officer said as he shook his head then added, "You might wanna get back, ma'am. They're bringing her up."

"She's alive.. Right?"

"And damn lucky to be alive. Got thrown through the windshield so she's cut up and mad as hell, but she's still alive.. You know Adri?"

"She's my daughter." Sam said quickly, not realizing what she'd said until she'd actually said it. The officers looked at her and one of them leaned in, whispered something to the others. A few moments later, one of them walked over to where she still stood and said "You wanna ride out to the hospital with her?" as he studied her intently.

"Yeah.. I'm going." Sam said firmly as she ignored the look the cop gave her and got into the back of the ambulance, looking at the girl with worry and fear in her eyes. Adriana tried to say something but Sam held a finger to her lips and said quietly, "The less you talk right now, Adri.."

"The hell are.." Adriana wheezed, finally finishing, "The hell are you doing here, Sam?"

"I'll explain when we're at the hospital and you're stable again, okay? For now, just rest and try to stay awake." Sam coaxed her oldest daughter as she wondered what happened tonight, why Adriana had wrecked and how fast she'd been going because according to the officers at the scene, she liked to drive her car wide open, full speed ahead, all the time.

Knowing this new little tidbit of information concerned Sam even more.

And deep down, her intuition was telling her that telling Adriana the truth, while hard, was the best thing to do for both of them. Maybe they could heal and bond.


	6. Chapter 6

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

The phone ringing in the middle of the night had Alexis sitting up. As soon as the feeling hit her she knew.. Something, somewhere was not right with one of her kids.. She rolled over and answered the phone in a state of sleepy panic and Sam's voice filled the other end of the line, the static was so bad that Alexis couldn't understand it.

"She had a wreck tonight, Mom." Sam said as she paced the parking lot of the small hospital in the small town of Beaumont, Georgia. She bit her fingernails even more than she had been already and as soon as her mother was fully awake and began with her questions, Sam answered them all as best as she could explaining how apparently her daughter was a bit of a speed demon.. She'd taken a curve on a gravel road near her house too fast and then went through a guard rail, flipping down a ravine with the car landing upside down in the gulley below the ravine.

"Is she..."

"No, mom, she's one of us, she's too tough to die. She's mad as hell right now at the doctors because they won't just let her call one of her adopted sisters and get them to come and pick her up, but.. She tried to lose consciousness on me twice on the way in." Sam said in a rush as one of the blondes that had arrived at the hospital about ten minutes after the ambulance carrying Sam and Adriana had arrived ran over and said "Ms. Morgan.. She's in a room.. Doctor says she's got a concussion, few bruised ribs and she had to have sixty fives stitches. Thought we should tell you.. Seeing as how you found her and all. How did you find her?" Anna Harper asked the woman (who resembled her sister if one were to be quite honest about it) as she looked down at her with curious eyes.

"I was coming to her house, I.. I had to talk to her about something." Sam said quietly as she bit the edge of her thumb and went back to pacing. Judging by what Adriana's adoptive sisters seemed to act like, either Adriana didn't know the full story, or she didn't know she'd been adopted at all. And suddenly, that made the situation Sam stood in presently, wanting more than anything to tell her daughter who she was and explain why she'd had to do what she'd done all those years ago..

"About what?" Anna asked curtly as Sam said "That's personal. It's a private matter between Adriana and I." just as curtly as Anna. Anna looked at her a few moments then asked, "You're the P.I she hired to find her birth mother and confront her.. Aren't you?"

Sam filed that away for later.. So Adriana somehow did know she'd been adopted.. But she most likely didn't know the whole story and just judging the way Anna, her oldest sister was acting, neither did either of her sisters.

She hated doing it but she nodded and lied as best as she could. She'd tell Adriana the truth, all of it, as soon as Adriana was able and willing to hear it. For now though, her main focus was making absolutely sure that beyond the injuries Anna came out to inform Sam that Adriana sustained during the accident, Adriana wasn't hurt any more seriously.

She winced as she thought about the almost tin can sized hunk of scrap metal that was left of Adriana's car. Her daughter (and her if she really had to be honest about things) had been truly blessed tonight that Adriana was even still alive. And this just convinced Sam farther that talking to her daughter, telling the whole truth and letting the chips fall where they may was the best thing to do in this case.

"If you wanna come up and talk to her, Ms. Morgan.. She's in a room now. Having a damn fit because the doctors won't just let her go home, insisting she's not that badly hurt but yeah.. She's alive and kickin.. It'd take more than a car wreck to take out her stubborn ass." Anna mused as she looked at the woman a few moments.. It was on the tip of her tongue to just blurt it out, to just ask what she really wanted to know, about maybe Sam being Adriana's birth mother because the woman did look awfully familiar, but..

It wasn't Anna's place.. And this whole mess, since it'd began shortly after their parents funeral was hard enough on her little sister anyway without all this coming out right now. If the woman had any decency (which she suspected the woman did) she'd wait a few days before springing anything she might know about Adri's birth mother, or the fact that she was Adri's birth mother, on Adri.


	7. Chapter 7

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"I'm telling you two, I'm fucking fine. See? Standing, walking, everything.. Look, you got husbands and families to bother, don't you?" Adriana asked her two older sisters in an annoyed tone of voice as they tried yet again to make her lie back down in the hospital bed she'd spent the better part of a week confined to practically. Her sister Anna of course, ignored her, and her sister Abby busied herself fluffing pillows, trying to push her back into the damn bed. Adriana raked her hand through long dark hair and finally sat down just to appease the two of them so that maybe they'd leave her alone and let her get a little peace and quiet.

The door opened and the woman she'd met a few days earlier at the bar, Ms. Morgan, stood in the doorway. "What on Earth are you doing up?" the woman asked her as Adriana replied stiffly, "Trying like hell to leave. I have work.. Laying around here isn't gonna get anything done." as she glared at her two older sisters and frowned again at being stuck in bed.

Sam wanted to laugh. She too hated being still, she hated being tied down. Bedrest, to her, was like being given a prison sentence, she was always worried that while she was laid up taking it easy, she was missing things she needed to get done. Apparently that was another trait mother shared with daughter. She looked at Adriana's adoptive sisters and then at Adriana and asked, "Is this a bad time?"

"Not like I can go anywhere." Adriana mused as Abby added, "If you move from that bed again, Adriana, I swear to Christ I will hog tie you down."

"Riiight."

"Laugh all you want, Adri, but I will do it. The doctor specifically said bruised ribs.. What part of bruised ribs means get up and go to work where you will have to lift heavy things and move around a lot, forget you do have bruised ribs and accidentally break one of the damn things?" Abby asked humorlessly as Adriana glared and then leaned her head back against the pillow before informing her older sisters, "I'm gonna count to three.. When I open my eyes, you two better be heading out that door, going to torment your actual families."

"We are your family too."

"I know, I just.. Can you two chill? I'm fine. It's gonna take more than an itty bitty wreck to..."

"That was not an itty bitty wreck, Adri and you know it.. That was almost you dying on us." Anna stated as the two blondes walked out and Sam laughed a little, mostly to ease the tension in the room and then took a seat near the bed.

Adriana looked at the woman and wondered what she was still doing in town. And why she felt like she had to spend time here in the hospital, with her.. And more importantly, why she felt a connection of sorts to the woman.

"Figured you would be gone by now." she finally said a few minutes later when she resorted to flipping through channels just to keep from going stir crazy because she wasn't able to be up and moving around. Missing work was not her idea, if she'd had her way, she'd have left the hospital the night it happened after she was all sewn up and bandaged.

But she hadn't, unfortunately. And now they were saying she wouldn't get to go home until the coming weekend, maybe a little sooner if she stopped pushing herself so damn much.

Sam watched her intently and took a few deep breaths as she said quietly, "I came by here to talk to you. There's something I need to tell you and it's really important that you know the whole story first. That being said, first I want you to look through something. You said you were looking for your real mother, right?"

"I did, yeah.."

"I think the things in this photo album will explain why I asked you that just now." Sam said carefully as she held out the photo album and the old notebook full of letters she'd written to Adriana and several times almost sent to the woman who'd adopted Adriana. Each time, however, she'd stopped herself from doing it, convincing herself that what she did was for the best.

Adriana raised a brow but took the photo album and the notebook, opening the notebook first, reading the letters inside, blinking in shock, looking up at the woman who sat on the edge of her hospital bed currently as she gasped and asked in shock, "You're my..."

"I'm your birth mother." Sam said quietly as she added, "And I think you need and deserve to know the whole story.. Not just what you think." as she held her daughter's gaze. Adriana bit her lower lip and winced as she moved too suddenly to sit up in bed and it hurt like hell. She wanted to scream at the woman to just leave, to swear and cry, but instead, she said quietly, "Okay, fine.. Color me curious.. Why the hell would you just walk away after leaving your daughter on someone's doorstep?"

Sam sighed and looked at her hands then at Adriana, started to tell her story. A few times she stopped talking to look at Adriana, she noticed about halfway in Adriana was listening intently, nodding here and there. When she finished, Adriana mulled over what she'd told her and finally said quietly, "Supposing I even believe your reason.. Why try and find me now after all this time? I mean why wait so fucking long?" before flipping through pages in the photo album, stunned silent by the fact that every single picture and letter her mother had sent that had been returned by her birth mother and marked return to sender, had been photocopied into the photo album.

So obviously she'd read them.

Sam sat quietly, thinking about Adriana's very logical question and she sighed as she said quietly, "I just wanted to know that you had a good life.. That you were happy, that you were taken care of. I'd never have been able to take care of you.. Especially not after what your father did..." her voice trailing off to an almost whisper as Adriana nodded and said "He cheated on her a few times before.. Never understood why the hell Mama stayed.. Finally, I caught him once when I was sixteen.. And I confronted him about it.. And he begged me not to tell her.. But I did.. And then they started fighting all over again. And when I couldn't take it anymore I burst into the argument and basically told them both off.. Then I left. I just couldn't stand watching it.. He obviously didn't love her and she deserved to be loved by someone.. And he.. He was an asshole.. The only reason he had anything to do with any of us girls is because of Mama.. She used to make him. I overheard him telling this guy at his law firm once that if he hadn't ever gotten married, hadn't ever had kids he'd have been a much happier guy. That he didn't want a family.. But he didn't want to leave Mama because Mama might just move on."

Sam processed this and asked, "Why did you leave home.. he didn't try anything.."

"Hell no.. Nothing like that.. My parents and me.. I mean you've seen my sisters.. I'm the odd girl out.. I just got sick of feeling like I didn't quite fit.. And I got sick of all the fake bullshit. I got sick of pretending that our family was happy, that we were this picture perfect family, got tired of acting in ways I didn't really feel. So I left. And I really don't think I'm ever gonna stop regretting that." Adriana admitted quietly as Sam nodded and then said "You will.. It'll take time but one day you'll wake up and you won't regret doing it as much as you did before. From there it'll get a little easier. What probably makes it so hard is that you just lost both your parents."

"Sadly, Ms. Morgan.. Err, Sam I meant.. The only parent I regret losing was her.. Because she was sweet. She was an amazing woman and she was stronger than I realized.. I mean obviously.. I just.. I wish I'd told her that before."

"She knew how you really felt.. I've learned one thing since I had my son.. Mothers always know." Sam mused as Adriana asked, "I have a half brother?"

"I have pictures of him, do you want to see them?" Sam asked as Adriana mulled it over a moment and then nodded, took her birth mother's cell phone and scrolled through her photo albums. Adriana leaned her head back against a pillow and said "In the second drawer over there.. I.. I had someone trying to find my birth mother.. I was gonna confront you at first, I mean I was so damn angry, I felt so unwanted.. I copied all my old pictures, I guess I was going to sort of just rub them in your face.. Now I hate myself for even being that angry.. I mean I'm mad as hell but I know why you did what you did now.. Sort of.. I'm still confused. But I just.. I don't think you did it because you didn't want me anymore, not after hearing what you had to say."

Sam took a relieved breath and got up, walked to the second drawer in the hospital's wardrobe, pulled out the box of photos and sat down, looked through them quietly.

"You were on cheerleading?" Sam asked as she lookd at a high school photograph of her daughter. Adriana shrugged and then said "They wouldn't let girls play football.. Only way I could be closer to the action, sadly. It wasn't so bad.."

"Where's prom?"

"Didn't go."

"Why not?"

"For one thing I didn't have a date.. For another? Just figured it was lame, blew it off. I forget what I did that night I just know that I had more fun than I would've being shoved into some stupid dress and having to actually find a guy who'd notice me to take as a date. It was a hassle and honestly I was too lazy to be bothered with it." Adriana said as Sam studied her a few moments then laughed a little.

"Would you want to meet the rest of your family?" she asked a few moments later as Adriana mulled that over and said quietly, "I guess it couldn't hurt? I have a while off from work thanks to my lead foot.." she joked, Sam glaring at her as she said "That terrified me that night. How fast were you going?"

"Barely seventy, Sam.. I was barely going seventy. I do it all the time on that road.. Guess I got too sure of myself and my car.." Adriana mused as Sam grumbled and then said "You're going to have to stop doing stuff like that.. Your grandmother.. She's a little panicky about big risks."

"Don't tell her I once base jumped.. She'll most likely shit a gold brick." Adriana said as Sam gave her oldest child yet another glare and then said "I think I want to, actually. Base jumping.. Isn't that like you just jumping off a building?"

"Actually, Sam, it was a bridge.. And I had a bungee cord and a spotter." Adriana mused as she managed a smile, shrugged casually and then asked, "What about you? I mean you mention my half brother.. You're not married?"

"I am.. Jason and I.. It's complicated right now."

"I'm listening.. It's not like I can go anywhere." Adriana pointed out as Sam turned her own question around on her and asked, "Any relationships with you?"

"You joke.. Actually, no.. I was dating this one guy but he and I had different ideas on what being faithful, being a couple actually meant.. He thought it meant screw every girl in Georgia."

"Ahhh."

"Sam, I kid you not.. If it weren't for bad luck with men? I'd have none at all. I've essentially decided lately that maybe I'm better off sticking to four wheels and a motor.. Or horses."

"You ride horses?"

"I barrel race sometimes. It's nothing big, really, its just fun. I don't full on rodeo, that's too expensive and too time consuming.. Besides, I'd never make it on the circuit." Adriana mused as she flipped through the channels and said aloud, "You wanted me to visit, right?"

"I'd love that."

"What about I come back with you?" Adriana offered as she looked at Sam and bit her lip, added in haste, "If you want me to, of course."

"I'd love you to come back with me."


	8. Chapter 8

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"I warn you now, in advance.. There are a lot of us." Sam said gently as she helped her daughter up the stairs to the town house that Alexis was living in while their lakefront cabin was being rebuilt. Adriana shivered against the chill in the air and nodded as she told her birth mother, "I can walk, Sam."

"It's slippery and you've almost fallen on those crutches at least five times in the two hours since we've gotten off the plane and landed. So I think that as your mother, kiddo, I'll just keep my arm around you." Sam said as she eyed Adriana in concern, smiling as Adriana nodded and looked like she wanted to say something but after a few moments thought, apparently the stubborn as all hell girl Georgia native decided against.

Sam knocked and within seconds, Molly and Kristina, with Ethan standing behind her, his arms around her, of course, threw the door open and Adriana had a split seconds terrified look as the masses that made up the Davis women descended on her. "Whoa, hang on y'all." Adriana coaxed playfully, waving her hands a little, wincing as the movement hurt her bruised ribs like hell.

"I hope you're going to slow that car of yours down." Alexis told her granddaughter firmly as Adriana waved her hands and said "Gonna tell you like I tell Sam.. Not makin any promises.. Wide open is kinda the only speed I really know, I mean that's the way us girls were taught to drive." which made Molly giggle and demand, "Say something else. It's cute, the way you talk.. You have the thickest accent."

"Do not." Adriana said as she studied her aunt intently and finally said with a laugh, "Sic 'em dogs." which made Kristina and Molly exchange glances, Adriana shake her head and point to the baseball cap she wore currently and point out "An SEC football team, girls.. The Georgia Bulldogs?"

"We don't really watch much sports around here." Alexis pointed out with a chuckle as she asked, "So, how was your flight? And how long will you be staying?"

"My flight was good.. Sam kept lettin me fall asleep after I told her not to, I mean I've never flown.. I wanted to see the stuff I was flying over.. As far as how long I'm staying.. I'm actually not sure yet.. Maybe a little while.. I wanna get to know my real family." Adriana explained as Sam (who'd disappeared into the kitchen with a glass) handed a glass full of water to her daughter, then the prescribed pain pills that Adriana was supposed to take to keep her injuries from hurting as Sam said with a small and hopeful smile, "I'm hoping she loves it here so much she moves here permanently."

"Like I said on the plane, Sam.. We'll see.. I mean this.. It's a lot to get used to." Adriana mused as she thought about it.. She'd only been here five minutes and already this small townhouse on the main street in Port Charles felt more homelike than her adoptive parent's Georgian ranch had in nearly all the years she'd actually lived there while not knowing the whole truth about what happened and why she felt different than her sisters.

"It is." Sam said as she looked at her daughter and then nodded to the pills and said "Oh no.. You're taking those.. I mean unless you just want to hurt so much that it makes you nauseous again."

Adriana poked her tongue out playfully but shoved the pain medicine into her mouth and chugged the water in her hands down before looking around the room at her extended family.. All of them, she noticed, except her grandfather and her half uncle Lucas, of course, were brunette.. And fairly short.. And for the most part, they were hands down, almost as good at sarcasm and dry humor as she was known to be.

Maybe this coming to meet them hadn't been a bad idea.. maybe she'd finally find the one place she fit in at.

The doorbell rang and Sam opened it, let Nickolas in as he smiled and asked "You two had a safe trip, right?"

"We did, yes.. Other than my daughter almost killing herself in a car wreck.. You were out of town with Spencer on vacation, I couldn't get in touch to tell you about it." Sam told Nickolas who chuckled and then looked at Sam's daughter and mused aloud, "Well, there's no question she's one of us, huh?" which made Sam laugh and shake her head no then point out, "She's just a little feistier.. And that worries me.. I mean I thought I was a big time risk taker, Nick.. My daughter has done things that scare me even.."

"Like what?"

"She's base jumped, for one.. And she locked herself out of her parents house once and didn't even hesitate in climbing up a very old and unsteady drain pipe on the side of the house, breaking a window in the attic and going into the house that way." Sam admitted as Nickolas chuckled and then nodded to his little son Spencer, who was apparently quite taken with the newest member of the family, currently, he was sitting on her lap, talking to her about any and everything he could ask her.

Adriana laughed at the little boy who was so full of questions and said "I'll get my photo albums out and show you pictures.. And we'll have to work on you not being able to throw a ball, huh?" as she let the boy down, took her half brother Danny from her aunt Kristina, held him on her lap, smiling as Danny reached for her Georgia baseball cap. "I'll have to get you one too. Maybe I can make ya a Georgia football fan.. that way I won't be such an oddball." Adriana said softly as her lips brushed the top of her little brother's head. He laid back against her and smiled, twisting a little finger in her long dark hair which made her laugh.

She finally felt like for once in her entire life, she was exactly where she needed to be... And the more she considered it, the more she wondered what exactly was keeping her in Georgia that she couldn't do here while bonding with her real family.. She could always go back and visit her adoptive sisters.. And her parents graves.. But it just.. She felt like this was home..

But she planned to give it a week or two, maybe a little longer, before she made any permanent decisions..


	9. Chapter 9

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"You're a football fan, huh?" Lucas asked as he sat down on the couch in Sam's apartment, next to his niece who was currently holding Danny while watching a Keanu Reeves movie on tv with Kristina and Ethan, Ethan mocking Keanu's accent for the movie which made Adriana and Kristina both double over laughing at him. Adriana laughed as she looked at her half uncle and said "Mhmm.. Football, baseball and boxing.. I kinda like hockey, I'll probably wind up getting into that more, I mean now that I'm near somewhere it actually gets cold enough to have a hockey rink so I can go see a few games." as she asked him, "You?" and stared at the guy intently.

She got a certain vibe from him, but she chose not to comment.. It was only confirmed when he stated casually, "My boyfriend Felix and I go to a lot of the hockey games.. I think Felix goes for the men in uniform, I actually like the sport." and shrugged, bright broad smile as he asked, "Did you ever decide whether you were going to stick around?" as he looked at her. Adriana shrugged and said "Not sure, actually.. I'm thinking about it." as Kristina spoke up and said "You should stay. Then we can go to PCU together."

Ethan chuckled and then said "You should stay, though.. Nothing like having a family, knowing where you came from at last. It makes a lot of things make sense." as Kristina explained, "Ethan didn't know his dad when he came to town. Now that he does, he stuck around a lot." as Ethan chuckled and said with a wink in Kristina's direction, "It's because of her, actually. But having someplace that feels like home helps too."

"It does." Lucas admitted and then said "You should at least think about it.. I mean Sam's going through a lot right now.. You two could really help each other.." as he looked at his half niece and watched her facial expression. Adriana nodded and said quietly, "It's just such a big decision, y'all." as she bit her lower lip, shifted Danny from one side of her lap to the other.

It felt nice having such a big family, and Port Charles seemed like the home she'd always wanted.. But she was a Georgia girl, she'd been born there, raised there.. She just wasn't sure if she could cut ties and make a huge move like this, especially not permanently.

The door to her mother's apartment being knocked on had her getting up, maneuvering her way to the door as best as she could with her crutches and opening it. The blond male stood on the other side of the door and he gave her a strange look then said "Came by to talk to Sam.. I'm Logan? I work at her office?"

"Ahh, that guy.. I talked to you on the phone for a while last night while Sam was bathing my brother." Adriana said as Logan took note of her Georgia Bulldogs tanktop and shook his head then said "Texas would kick that ass for 'em."

"Right.. Because the Longhorns have such a great team." Adriana mused as Logan chuckled and said "You're Adri.. Right?"

"Adriana." Kristina spoke up as Ethan chuckled and leaned in to whisper, " Looks like he's staring a little bit."

"He's speechless.. Do we know how rare it is for Logan the loudmouth to be quiet?" Kristina whispered back as Lucas leaned in and whispered, " Oh.. He's into her alright.. It's all right there in the body language." before chuckling and watching the scene at the doorway of his half sister's apartment with amusement and concern.

He just wasn't too sure about Logan in all honesty. He knew enough from Lulu to know what Logan had been like in the past, not to mention his own personal experiences with the guy before he'd left and moved to Seattle.

"Sam's actually out right now.. You wanted something?" Adriana asked as she gave the guy a slight smirk and waited, shifting her weight from one side to the other. Just sitting around her birth mother's apartment the past week or so she'd been staying here had been nice but she was starting to get really, really antsy. She wanted to be up and at 'em already.. But the doctor she'd been referred to here seemed to think that she needed more rest.

"Something about work.. It can wait." Logan said as Adriana looked at the file in his hand, held her hand out and said casually, "Can't be too damn hard to understand.. I watch a lot of crime shows."

"God yes.. And it's kind of annoying." Kristina called out in a teasing tone as Ethan added, "But do not let her leave the bloody apartment.. Sam will have a fit. She's not even supposed to move any farther than this couch."

"What the hell did you do to yourself, darlin?" Logan asked as Adriana shrugged and Lucas informed him, "She'll tell you it was just a small car wreck.. Her car however, is now a smashed soda can sized wreckage at a junkyard in Georgia.. She was lucky she lived. And if she doesn't get her butt back over here and sit down, she'll be lucky to be off the crutches she's constantly complaining about within a year."

"Dang it, y'all, it's not that big a deal. I just lost control of the car, it can happen to anybody." Adriana said as she looked at Logan who stared at her a few moments then said "Actually, I gotta run. I'll come back by later." and made a hasty retreat.. He smiled to himself a little as he walked down the hallway and onto the elevator.

He hoped that she was sticking around because he'd really like to get to know her.. Even if it didn't go anywhere.. She just seemed like one of those chill girls he could actually be friends with without the worry of them trying to fall for each other or something. And these days, he'd take friendship over a relationship any day of the week.


	10. Chapter 10

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"Okay, so I'm betting y'all are wondering why I asked all of ya to meet me at the Floating Rib tonight? For a family dinner?" Adriana asked as she shifted nervously in the seat in which she sat, looked at her entire extended family as she bit her lower lip.. She knew that soon, she'd have to make a decision as to whether she remained here and got to know her real family, or whether she went back to Georgia and tried just going back to life as it was before she'd found out the truth. And she'd been on the fence as far as a decision for the better part of the two weeks she'd been here.

Until today, of course.. She'd just walked around the town, sort of checked out things for herself since her mother and her doctors were finally letting her move around more, since she'd finally been given permission to lose the crutches and stuff. And she'd found a garage downtown that happened to be hiring.. Not to mention, when she'd come into the Floating Rib earlier in the hopes of getting a drink and found it relatively unmanned, she'd been able to talk the owner into hiring her fairly easily.. And it hit her then.. These people were her real family. She felt like she fit in with them. Nothing made her feel like an outsider here. Life even seemed a lot more peaceful here, which coming from a country girl at heart, that was saying a lot.

She'd made the decision sometime between the unofficial end of her first 'shift' at The Floating Rib and now that she'd do it, she'd make the move to Port Charles and just go back to see her adoptive sisters on some holidays. After all, there wasn't really anything holding her to Georgia now, her adoptive mother was gone and she had no family of her own. Her sisters both had husbands, kids.. The life she wanted but was too afraid deep down to let herself think she could have.

"Kind of, yes.." Molly said as she smiled and nudged Kristina who asked, "Did you decide finally whether this is just a visit?" while Ethan studied his girlfriend's niece with a curious expression on his face. He related to her because he'd been in her shoes already, he knew how a lifetime of not fitting in with your so called family felt. Then he'd come here and while he and Luke butted heads, they still got along great for the most part.

"Actually, yeah, I did.." Adriana said as Alexis asked excitedly, "Well?" and Sam bit her lower lip, crossed her fingers beneath the table they were all crowded around with Lucas speaking up to add, "Well? Are you gonna leave us hanging all day?" as Julian chuckled and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, Adriana.. What do you really have in Georgia that you don't have here? I mean other than warmer weather. Maybe you can migrate." with a teasing smirk as Adriana gave him a playful dirty look and said "Ha, Gramps. Actually, I was thinking the same thing you just said.. And while I was walking around today, I happened to find a garage here in town that was hiring.. And The Floating Rib needs bartenders.. And I checked into PCU?"

"I knew it!" Molly shouted, making people at the tables around them eye her and laugh, shake their heads. Alexis smiled and asked casually, "What are you going to go for if you go to PCU?"

"Not to disappoint you, Grams.. But I think I might go for their medical program. I've got the stomach needed to be a nurse, I mean nothing really makes me sick." Adriana mused thoughtfully as Sam nodded and said "That's good, nurses are always in high demand."

"And I can aggrivate the hell out of you while we're at work." Lucas teased as Adriana gave him a playful dirty look and said "Yeah, but.. I can do it right back." with a mischevious gleam in her eyes as Kristina spoke up and said "So.. Are you going to keep living with Sam? We have to redecorate your room."

"We do, yes.. Not so much a fan of the blinding pink nightmare splashed on the walls." Adriana said as Sam nodded and said mildly, "I never have been. Nobody usually uses that room so it's just kind of stayed pink."

"Who the hell slept there, the Avon rep from hell? I mean that color pink, Mom..." Adriana joked as Alexis said "You're close." which made Sam snicker a little and then answer, "A girl named Brenda Barrett?"

"No shit? The supermodel that every teenage girl in America tries to copy?" Adriana asked with wide eyes and a bright laugh as she added, "Yeah, now I can totally see why it's pepto pink." as she ordered her food and then asked, "So.. This is okay with everyone?"

"We're glad you're staying." her family all basically agreed. They all dug into their food, talking and laughing, joking about random things, and Adriana got up to go to the bathroom. She'd just turned a corner when she collided with a taller dark haired male who chuckled, steadied her quickly as he asked, "You okay? I should've been watching where I was going. I'm Nathan."

"Adriana. And it's actually not your fault. I just kinda hauled ass to the ladies room.. Wasn't watching where I went." Adriana said as she smiled up at him and then said casually, "Here alone?"

Nathan shook his head and nodded to a table with a couple sitting at it, a baby in the woman's lap. He waved and then said "Those two dragged me out tonight.. Something about how I couldn't just sit around and mope because this girl I had a thing for, sort of, took off to stop another guy's wedding?"

Adriana snickered then said with a sheepish smile as her hand went to her mouth, "Sorry, it's just.. I thought I had bad luck, hon.. I'm kinda having a family celebration thing right now. Decided to move here, get to know my birth mother. Biggest move I'll have ever made in my whole life."

"Port Charles isn't boring, that's for sure.. It's not a bad place, just lots of stuff happens." Nathan mused as Adriana nodded and said "So I've noticed.. Feels more like home to me than Georgia did the entire time I lived there." with a shrug as Nathan nodded and then said "Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Probably so." Adriana called out over her shoulder as she made her way through the crowd and into the ladies room. Nathan went to sit at his table with Dante and Lulu, Lulu nudged him and asked, "Well?"

"She's cute.. Her name was Adriana, but do not go playing Cupid." Nathan said with a smirk as Dante chuckled and said quietly, "I know that look, man. And I know my wife.. You might as well hang her not butting in up."

"Hey, he's our friend.. I just want everyone happy like us.. And if Maxie is going to Spin, if she's finally going to make herself happy, why can't Nathan?"


	11. Chapter 11

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

He slid onto the barstool and Adriana called out over her shoulder, "Just a sec, I'm cleaning the back room up. Frat boys are fucking dipshits when they drink and anyone who ever says any different oughta..." as she peered into the front of The Floating Rib and bit her lower lip, sheepishly grinned at Nathan who sat on the stool, watching her in amusement. "Oughta what?" he asked as Adriana shrugged, biting her lower lip.

"What can I get ya?"

"Guinness Dark." Nathan called out to her as she nodded and gave a thumbs up over her shoulder while going to the area that they kept the alcohol at, grabbing a Guinness Dark in a long neck bottle, stopping on her way back to him with the beer in hand to switch through the radio, settling on a grunge station that was located on the PCU campus (that she was djing for at night whenever she wasn't working, just because she liked the idea of maybe getting a minor in broadcasting) that she happened to like and that happened to be playing a Nirvana song.

He gave her a raised brow and she said with a shrug, "Nirvana's always good music. Kinda calming if it's the right song, actually." while sliding his beer across the bar to him, uncapping her own. He chuckled and took a sip then said "Didn't take you for a Nirvana fan though."

"Music is music." Adriana mused as she asked, "So.. Save any lives today, officer? Just so you know. You almost had to come in here and arrest me earlier. If those annoying little shits from that fraternity had kept it up.. Oh man.. I'd have lost it." and laughed, shrugged. Nathan smiled and said casually, "Oh really.. What happened?"

"Well the idiots that weren't fighting were being dicks. And one or two of them got to feel my death grip when they got a little handsy." Adriana said, not bothering to sensor herself. She wasn't trying to flirt with this guy, she pretty much figured that she had his type of girl pegged.. He probably liked prettier girls.. Probably the dumber they were the better too.

"Is that oil.. On your cheek?" he asked, trying not to snicker as he grabbed a napkin and leaned in, stopped himself and just handed her the napkin. She laughed and said "Yep.. Had to go straight from my first job to this one because my boss, the idiot got himself arrested. I got a shower but it was a quick one, probably missed a smudge or two." as he looked at her and asked with curiousity, "Where else do you work?"

"That auto shop down on Main Street.. I just got promoted to head mechanic, actually." as she watched his face in amusement, waited for the typical dumb male statement that most guys made when she told them she actually liked and knew what she was doing when it came to working on automobiles. Instead, he blinked in surprise and then said "You? Work on cars?"

"What? Girls can't do it?"

"No, not that.. It's just.. you're so tiny.. I mean I figured you'd be a yoga instructor or something.." Nathan blurted as he immediately started to mentally kick himself.

"Thanks.. But I'm not tiny." Adriana said as she looked at him and asked, "Ya think I could be a yoga teacher though? That might be fun to try..." while rubbing her chin in thought. From behind them, her half uncle Lucas spoke up and said "Do not give Teeny any ideas, Nate.. She's already got two jobs, an internship at the radio station on PCU campus, she babysits Danny for my sister Sam, she's my football binge watching partner and she's working on a major in medicine. She really does not have enough hours in the day to even consider adding something else." while looking at his half niece in concern and amusement.

Nathan let out a low whistle and sipped his beer quietly for a few moments then asked with a chuckle, "Do you even sleep?"

"What's sleep?" Adriana asked with a laugh as her cheeks flushed a little.. Lucas watched them talking with an amused grin on his face.. And when Felix edged in, he kissed his lover on the cheeks then nodded in Nathan and Adriana's direction and asked, "Is it just me, Felix, or is there something happening there?" which made Felix smile and start to say something but then decide against and mutter quietly, "So.. If we keep throwing them together.."

"Felix? She already has more than enough going on.. Besides.. This is my half niece we're talking about, not just some random.. I wanna make sure this Nathan guy's decent."

"We know him."

"I know, but.."

"Aww, babe, I love how you get overprotective." Felix gushed as Lucas sipped a beer bought to him by Adriana who asked quietly, "What? I see you two lookin at me all crazy, what's up?"

"Oh nothing.." Felix said as Lucas smiled innocently. When Adriana walked away from their little two person table, he looked at Felix and said quietly, "Hell with it.. We can try, right?"

"And I promise.. If he turns out to be a not so good guy, babe.. We will back off." Felix said as Lucas nodded. Kristina and Ethan walked in and sat down, Molly and TJ in tow, arguing about a movie they wanted to see. Molly looked over in Nathan and Adriana's general direction and smiled as she nudged her sister and said "It's so cute!"

"She has no idea he's basically hitting on her.. But she's hitting on him right back." Kristina muttered as Ethan groaned and palmed his face then said "Leave it be, love. If they were meant to happen, like us, they will find a way."

"But Adri.. She'll never make a move."


	12. Chapter 12

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

The sounds of Miranda Lambert being played full volume up the hallway as Nathan walked past the penthouse about three apartments down from the apartment he now lived alone in had him raising his brow.. And then chuckling in amusement when he happened to notice that the door to the penthouse was partially open and the cute bartender he'd been seeing around town a lot lately was singing along at the top of her lungs (a little off key, but it was still cute if he had to admit it) as she danced around the kitchen, barefoot, going between the stove and a high chair with a little boy sitting in it.

He stood there a few moments watching her, trying not to laugh. Jason Morgan clearing his throat from behind had Nathan moving along the hallway and Jason walked into the apartment, his hand reached for the volume knob to the radio. Sam's oldest child froze and turned, looked at him with a raised brow and he said calmly "I don't know what you're used to in Georgia, Adri.. But it's not a good idea to leave the door to the penthouse halfway open and unlocked when it's just you and Danny here. Sam hasn't made it in yet, has she?"

"Nope. Why?" Adriana asked her mother's husband, with her hand wound in her long brown hair as she looked at him in curiousity. All her mother would tell her about the situation with this guy was that it was complicated, there was a lot of history there and right now they both needed time. Adriana personally didn't get it, she could tell her mom was head over heels for this guy, and just judging how jealous he looked if he saw Sam out somewhere and Dr. Clay happened to be around, well..

It didn't take an idiot to figure out this guy was just as crazy about her mom too. Adriana bit her lower lip and then said "Can I ask you a question?"

"What's that?" Jason asked as he rifled through the mail on their desk, making sure he hadn't gotten any mail. He waited on Adriana to ask him whatever she'd wanted to ask and finally, he turned and asked, "What did you want to ask me?"

"If you two still love each other why the hell not try and work things out? I mean Danny deserves both his parents in one house.. And from where I'm standin? Nothin's too complicated that talking won't fix.. I've seen the way you two always watch each other when you're out and you run into each other.. Just saying."

Jason thought about it a moment. Adriana's observation was true, of course, and what she said made sense.. But they'd had so much happen to them and this last thing had finally just broken it for Sam. But he did want her back, more than anything.. And her daughter's words sort of sank in and resonated in his brain. He shrugged quietly, however and then asked, "How's work?"

"Pretty good.. They're starting Karaoke night back at the Rib. You should come check it out." Adriana said as Jason shook his head, laughed a little and then said "I think I'll pass."

"You're no fun."

"So I've heard." Jason mused solemnly as he reminded Adriana, "Lock up and shut the damn door when I leave.. It would kill your mom if anything happened to either of you.. I wouldn't like it either." and gave her a slight smile as he said "Ask her if she wants to get a drink one night.."

"Will do, sir.. I'll tell her you came by.. Why did you come by?"

"Hoped she was home.. I was going to tell her how much I do not want to divorce her." Jason said quietly as Adriana bit her lower lip and said quietly, "Oh... So she got papers drawn up, huh?"

"Mhmm. I'll take what you told me into consideration." Jason said as Adriana nodded and walked to the door, shutting it behind her, locking it as she turned her attention back to her little brother and leaning down said quietly, "We're gonna try and fix that, okay little guy? It's not fair to you that they're both so damn rock headed they refuse to try and talk to each other and try to fix things." as she bit her lip and her brain began to plot ways to maybe throw her mother and this Jason man into situations where they had to talk things out.

Her mother walked in and sniffing the air said with a laugh and bright smile, "Thank god you cooked! There's enough for more than just us, right?" as she hugged her daughter who said "Jason stopped by. Seemed disappointed when you weren't here."

"This case I'm working.. I'm now having to bring work home too. So I had to bring Logan with me." which made Adriana roll her eyes a little. Not that Logan was a bad guy, he just.. He annoyed her a good deal, always trying to piss her off or something.

"It's homemade ravioli casserole." Adriana said as she picked up Danny then said "I'm gonna go bathe the little guy. You.. Call that man, damn it. Don't be stubborn, Mom. People would kill to have true love."

"So you think that's what we have, huh?" Sam asked as she took a taste of the ravioli and groaned as she said through a mouth full, "This is good." and put the spoon she'd used to taste test into the sink as she looked at her daughter and then said "You gave me advice.. Now I want to give you a little.. Why not let Lulu set you up on a blind date.. You might be surprised."

"Ahh.. Trust me, mom.. Me and dates don't go so well together.." Adriana said as she slunk down the hallway and into the bathroom with her brother in her arms, cleaning him up a little as she scowled at herself in the mirror.. She liked a guy, yeah, but this particular guy, well.. He looked like one of those types of guys who went for a high mainetenance girl. And Adriana honestly didn't think she was good enough. Or that she'd screw things up.

But in the spirit of cooperation, when she walked into the kitchen, where her mother sat drinking a glass of tea and scanning at least four thick file folders on the table's surface, she said casually, "Fine, mom. You talk to Jason and I'll let Lulu set me up."

Sam looked up and smiling said "Fair enough. I'll call him later."

"Mother.. You're stalling."

"Daughter.. You're prying." Sam teased as she asked, "How'd work go?"

"Almost got into a fight at the bar.. Some Brooklyn girl.. One of those annoying girls. I coulda taken her." Adriana joked as Sam laughed and nodding said "Yeah, you could've." as Adriana sat down at the table and held her brother while talking to her mom. Sam took Danny and smiling as she kissed her son's forehead she said casually, "I heard Nathan came into the bar."

"Logan, huh?"

"Mhmm.. And that he punched one of the guys that was being a dick?" Sam asked as she looked at her daughter in concern, Adriana of course, shrugging it off and saying, "The guy was drunk. I coulda handled it. Hell, I was about to then out of nowhere that Nathan guy punches the other guy in the face."

"Maybe, Adriana, you should get to know the guy."

"I know him. He's a friend of mine, actually." Adriana said as Sam shook her head and said "I've seen you looking at him too."

"And? So I like what I'm lookin at.. Wantin and tryin to get, mom, are two very different things."

Sam shook her head and then said "Just let Lulu set you up. It might not be such a bad thing.."

"You talk to Jason and I will. Do it for Danny if for no other reason."


	13. Chapter 13

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

She shivered a little, clearly not used to the much cooler temperature of a fall in New York as she stood in the park's playground, pushing Danny on the baby swingset as she talked to him. Jason had come by her mother's apartment to talk to her and out of respect, she'd bundled up Danny, grabbed her own jacket and walked a block over to the playground thinking that maybe they'd fix things if they had alone time to talk and sort through their mess. Not that she knew or claimed to know anything about matters of the heart or romance or anything, she just.. She could tell they loved each other deeply and that this was taking it's toll on them both.

For Danny's sake, something had to give.

"What do you think, huh, Danny? Think they'll get their shit together?" Adriana asked as she slid her little brother free from the swings and held him against her. He reached up for her nose and she laughed as she walked them towards the sweet and heady aroma of hot chocolate. There must be a stand or something nearby, she figured, and she turned a corner, found the stand near the center of the park. She stopped, adjusted her brother from one hip to the other, dug through the pockets of a pair of second skin fitting and ripped skinny jeans to produce the correct amount of money to buy herself a small cup. "And we meet again, huh?" Nathan said from behind her as she turned to face him, held up the cup and said with a sheepish grin, "I'm a sucker for hot chocolate. I think Danny's got my sweet tooth, got him a chocolate milk and he's over here grinning while he makes both of us sticky.. How's your day?" as she looked at Nathan a few moments.

They did always seem to bump into each other a lot when they were out in town.. Her mother's advice kind of resonated with her, but the girl wasn't even sure how one went about flirting with a guy, really. She looked up at him, twisting a strand of hair around her fingertip as she tried to figure out just how the hell to proceed.. She didn't have half her mother's good looks, she definitely wasn't charming and witty like her aunts... Not good at stuff like this, not at all, not in the slightest.

"It was pretty busy. Mostly small stuff, thank God, but it was busy.. What about your day?"

"Got one car out of the shop and got another in. I can't wait to start on it, it's a Corvette Stingray." Adriana said as she bit her lower lip and smiled a little, shuffled her little brother around in her arms and then said with a laugh, "It gets a lot colder up here."

"Yeah, it does. I mean I'm used to it.. I can imagine you're freezing right now though.. Georgia's not this cold in early fall." Nathan said as he smiled at her and then asked, "Since it's getting dark and Port Charles is a town in New York.. I'll walk ya back up to your mom's place." as he jokingly held out his arm to her, however, it was only halfway jokingly. It wasn't a secret amongst himself and his friends that he sort of had a thing for the new girl in town.. But she was pretty skittish, she didn't seem to catch on that he liked her, he halfway suspected that she just thought he was being really, really polite. "You didn't have to work at the radio station tonight?"

"Nah, this guy took my spot. The advisor's letting him try it, seeing if he's got a knack for it because we had one of the girls interning at the station quit.. Something about not wanting to be there alone after dark? That she got a weird feeling about it? Place hasn't ever bothered me and I've been alone after dark there a lot." Adriana said with a shrug as they walked through the double doors of the apartment complex and into the lobby, Adriana nodding at the doorman, yelling out, "How's the hockey lineup lookin?"

"Not so good, Adri.. You get this cop to walk you up, hear? There's a mobster in the building." the doorman said as Adriana laughed a little and said with a playful grin, "Yes sir." as they walked past the doorman's walled in booth, onto the stairwell.

"You don't do the elevator either, huh?" Nathan asked as Adriana shook her head then said "Not to mention the elevator's kind broken.. Again.. That's the third time this month." as Nathan chuckled and then said "What are you doing tonight?" on a whim, shocking himself a little at just blurting it out.. But his sister Brit's advice was rattling around in his head and he figured what the hell... Maybe he should attempt a move.

"Uhh... Nothing, why? I mean I thought about grabbing a few drinks down at the Rib, maybe playing a round of darts.. But nothing, really.." Adriana said as she laughed a little and pointed out sheepishly, "I'm really, really bad at this.."

"I'm not so great either.. So, you want to grab those drinks with me? I mean I'm not a darts expert like you seem to be when I've seen you playing your mom's co worker Logan, but.. I'm no slouch either. Maybe we can grab something to eat from Kelly's too.." Nathan asked as Adriana mulled it over a few moments with her hand lingering on the knob to the door of her mother's penthouse.. She smiled and said with a shrug, "Sure.. Don't see what the hell it'd hurt, right?" as he smiled to himself as he watched her vanish into the penthouse, door shutting behind her.

At least his foot was in the door now..


	14. Chapter 13 I

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

She smiled brightly as Luke Bryan came on the jukebox in the corner of the bar. Grabbing their drinks, she wiggled her hips a little as she made her way back through the crowd and towards Nathan, Dante and Lulu, passing out the beers. " Nathan, sorry I didn't see any Guiness Dark behind there. Got you regular Guiness." as he eyed her Angry Orchard bottle with a raised brow. "Gotta experiment sometime." Adriana explained as she double tapped the top against the side of the table nearest the pool tables, took a few long sips as she looked at the bottle and commented, "Not too bad."

"Does it taste like apples?" Lulu asked as Adriana held out the bottle to Lulu and said "Find out for yourself, hon." as she took the poolstick from Nathan's hand, chalked the tip and prepared to take a shot at breaking the balls out of their formation.

Nathan chuckled and then said "You wanna break?" as he looked at Adriana when she wasn't watching him. She honestly behaved as if she didn't know he were flirting with her right now. Which was a refreshing change from the girls around here who seemed to always think a guy was hitting on them when in fact the guy had no actual interest in them whatsoever. He spotted his sister slipping into the bar and gave her a wave, she gave him a smirk and a thumbs up as she mouthed 'Told you go for it. Good, you listened'.

"Yeah, I'll break. I mean unless you just think you can do it better?" Adriana challenged playfully as she watched him when he wasn't looking, licked her lips. She liked the guy a lot but she had not a single damn clue how to even start to make a move of any sort. Her mother kept hinting that she got a little 'goofy/giggly' around him, but she'd usually just give Sam a dirty look and ignore it.

Dante nudged Lulu and shook his head to discourage whatever matchmaking scheme she might have in mind for their friends and coughing said aloud, "So, I thought Ethan and Kristina were coming tonight?" which made Adriana feel a little more at ease. At least if her aunt was there she couldn't fuck it up too badly.

"She just texted actually." Adriana answered as she laughed and yelled out to Ethan, "Sup, man! Gonna play us?" as they walked over, joined the crowd around the pool tables. Kristina nudged her niece, nodded to Nathan and asked quietly, "He asked you to hang out here with him tonight?"

"How'd you..."

"Overheard Britt Westbourne, his sister giving him a nudge in that direction." Kristina giggled as she looked at her niece and then asked quietly, "What I'm happiest for is that you finally agreed to hang out with him."

"It's not a date, Aunt Kris.." Adriana muttered, biting her lower lip as she watched Nathan bending, aiming at a red stripe on the pool table, chuckling when he made the ball into a pocket. he turned to her and smirking said "Your turn.. We're gonna team up.. If that's okay? I thought you could team with me, Kristina with Ethan and Lulu with Dante."

"Sounds like a plan." Adriana said casually as she found herself chest to chest with Nathan as Kristina taunted, "And Ethan and I are totally going to beat you guys. Aren't we?" while looking up affectionately at her date, her boyfriend Ethan who chuckled and held a finger to his lips, whispering something into Kristina's ear that made her turn a deep red.

"I don't even wanna know." Adriana laughed as she sipped her beer and aimed at her shot, made it, then tried for another shot and missed. During the game, Nathan kept her laughing, they talked quite a bit. And she realized she was letting her guard down a little more than she would if they went out by themselves.. And that they had a lot more in common than she previously thought.

Ethan nudged Kristina and nodded in the direction of her niece as he chuckled and said "Doesn't look like it's not a date to me. They seem cozy." as Kristina nodded gleefully and slid out her phone as covertly as possible, snapped a picture to send to Sam and her own mother, just so they'd see that Adriana, the stubborn girl she was had finally taken Sam's taunting advice and let Nathan hang out with her for a night after work.

She looked genuinely happy if the truth were to be told.

* * *

Sam picked up her phone when it buzzed against her desk and smiled, chuckled as she showed Jason the text picture. Jason grumbled but then said quietly, "I mean it, Sam.. I want to come home. I was an idiot for just thinking we could walk away from each other. I miss you and I miss Danny.. I want our family back.. I want you."

"I want you too, Jason.. But what if we mess things up again?"

"We won't ever know until we try, will we?" Jason asked as he sipped a beer, looked over to where Danny lie sleeping in his playpen. This was home. Sam was his home. Danny was his son. They needed each other and he loved her more than anything else. Sam sighed as she said quietly, "Okay.. We'll try this. But we cannot do things the way we were, Jason. No more secrets. No more letting other people come between us. If this is going to work there can't be any outside interference."

"So.. Adriana finally let the guy take her out?"

"According to Kristina, Jason, my daughter has no idea it's actually a date to him.. She still thinks he just wants to be her friend." Sam said with a laugh as Jason shrugged and said quietly "All I have to say is if that guy hurts her he'll have to deal with me.. I mean I am technically her stepfather, whether she's grown or not."

Sam smiled. Maybe they would be alright this time around, after all.


	15. Chapter 13 II

_She got her daddy's tongue and temper _  
_ Sometimes her mouth could use a filter _  
_ God shook his head the day he built her _  
_ Oh, but I bet he smiled._  
Lee Brice, She Ain't Right

"I see y'all made up." Adriana said as she walked into her mom's apartment, hung her jacket up on the back of a chair and flopped down next to her mother on the leather couch in the living room. Sam smiled and nodding said "Yeah, we did.. I told him though, this time we had to take it slow." as she looked down at Adriana and asked with a smirk, "What about you?"

"I was just having drinks with the guy, Mom. Not a big deal." Adriana fumbled for words as she thought back to earlier in the night. Nathan had gotten her to dance with him as a 'condition' when he'd beaten her in a game of darts. She'd figured she had him beat but he'd surprised her. She could still smell his cologne on her shirt and it made her smile a little.

Sam pulled out her cell phone and said "Sure.. And your aunt Kristina's been photoshopping these all night via cell phone and sending them to me, Adri? You two look cozy.. And more importantly, you look happy."

"Mom.. Seriously. And anyway, if she's been texting you pictures of me all night, suppose I should tell you that she and Ethan were practically making out while dancing at one point, huh? Wonder what grandma would say about that one?" Adriana mused with a shrug and a giggle before yawning and then asking, "So.. Is he moving back in? I mean I see his motorcycle in the garage, a bag in the hallway.. Did you finally let the man come back? I'm glad you two stubborn asses talked. Just so you know I was fully prepared to throw you two in a room and lock the door until you did. Danny deserves mama and daddy. Not just one of you at a time."

Sam nodded, laughed as she told her daughter quietly, "I think we're gonna be okay.. And what about you? Did you at least try and accept that Nathan might possibly want to be more than friends?"

"Mom.. His ex girlfriend is freaking gorgeous. I'm me.. I hardly see that happening." Adriana said as Sam shook her head and said quietly, "You.. are every bit as gorgeous as Maxie Jones.. Or anyone. Anybody who says any different is blind or an idiot."

"You kinda have to say that, I mean you are my mother."

"Everyone says it."

"No they don't."

"Lucas is always telling me how guys hit on you when you two are making rounds at the hospital. And you're always getting phone numbers when you're out somewhere."

"Because they wanna hang out and play poker and watch football, Mom. Huge difference in being the girl and being the best friend who happens to be a girl. If you grew up with sisters like mine were.." Adriana admitted as Sam sighed and shook her head then said quietly, " You definitely are my daughter. Stubborn." before asking, "Well, did anything noteworthy happen?"

"We're going to see a movie tomorrow.. As friends most likely." Adriana said as Sam laughed and then said "I knew it! And if he asked you to a movie, Adri, nine times out of ten, it's a date."

"Who says?"

"It's in the dating handbook, kid." Sam said as she yawned and s tood, pulled her daughter up off the couch and said with a smile, "Only waited up to give you hell for the pictures your aunt sent me. Now that both my kids are home I can go to sleep." as Adriana nodded and said quietly, "I'm glad I chose to stick around.. It feels more like home here.. I mean the Harpers.. They sorta loved me.. But this just feels more like home."

"I'm glad you stayed too, Adri." Sam admitted as Adriana ducked into her room. Sam walked on down the hall to her room and got into bed beside Jason who asked sleepily, "She finally came in?"

"She did. And she likes him a lot. I told her we talked. She gloated, of course."

"Figures." Jason chuckled as he slid his arm around Sam, pulled her against him in bed and kissed her forehead. "Sleep woman.. We have work tomorrow."

"We do, sadly." Sam muttered as she lie there, smiling to herself in the dark. Her life was good. It was perfect, actually. Normally, she'd worry about something happening and messing that up. Not now. She'd just gotten it all back. She couldn't wait to see what it held in store for her.

Down the hall, Adriana lie in her bed in the newly painted pale blue, formerly blinding pink room and stared at the ceiling. What if Nathan did like her as more than a friend? She had no clue how to handle this situation, she hadn't ever had or kept a serious boyfriend around long. They all just seemed to lose interest when something prettier came along. She gave up trying when she kept taking guys home in high school and one of her two adopted sisters wound up being the girl the guy she was bringing home was actually more interested in.

She thought about all the fun she'd had with him tonight, at the Rib, and she wondered if he really did mean for tomorrow night to be a date, or was it just two friends going to see a movie. She worried about this so much that she was pounding the pillow in frustration until about 4 am and finally, she gave up on sleep altogether and made her way down the hall to the kitchen where Jason was feeding Danny.

"Can't sleep?"

"Just restless." Adriana said quietly as she watched Jason with Danny and smiled a little. Jason sat Danny in a high chair and then handed Adriana a glass of water as he asked, "A reason you're restless?"

"Not particularly, no." Adriana said as she looked at Jason and said quietly, "Not one that I wanna get into anyway, I mean it's stupid."

"I think I know what it is.. Only thing I can tell you, Adri, is don't let things get to you like they do. You overthink a lot, I've noticed. Sam does it too. I think it's a genetic trait really." Jason mused as he worked on feeding Danny his formula bottle and trying to get him back to sleep. Adriana nodded. She did tend to overthink things too much.

"Basically, what you're tellin me is don't think so much."

"Mhmm. Just let whatever happens, happen. No sense in getting rushed into something. That's when the most problems start." Jason nodded as Adriana asked, "That's where you and Mom's problems started?"

"Sort of. It was a mixture of things, really. But when it's right you'll know.. When it's wrong you'll know too." Jason said as Adriana stood and stretched. "Thanks.. For the talk." she muttered as he nodded, managed a smile and asked, "Going to sleep now?"

"I'm gonna try. Maybe my mind will shut off a few hours and let me."


End file.
